Smile
by Lynse
Summary: When Juleka finds the note, she isn't sure she can believe its contents. One-shot.


A/N: I've had this on my tumblr for over a year and kept forgetting to post it here. Oops. No particular timeline, but written pre-S2. Standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

 _You have a beautiful smile. The world is brighter when you wear it._

Juleka blinked, staring at the note that had fallen out of her notebook. The handwriting looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. She glanced sideways at Rose and noticed that her friend was smiling at a slip of paper, this one pink instead of purple. Rose started to laugh, and she looked up at Juleka. "That's so sweet of you. Thanks."

"It wasn't me." Juleka didn't need to ask to know that Rose's paper had contained a similar note. "I got one, too."

Juleka turned to look at the others. Nathanaël must have something; he wasn't drawing, and the look on his face was one of confusion, not concentration. Ivan hadn't opened his books yet and instead looked to be half asleep. In front of her, Kim was having an animated discussion with Alix, but Max…. Max was reading something, too. And so was Mylène.

No one else seemed to have noticed anything; Sabrina was listening to whatever Chloé was saying, just as Adrien was with Nino, and Alya was showing Marinette something on her phone.

Either they didn't have anything or they hadn't seen it yet.

She had a feeling it was the latter.

Mme Bustier would arrive at any moment, and Juleka almost wished class would start so she could be distracted. The notes were nice and all, but…but she wasn't sure if they were sincere. She wasn't sure if this was just a joke. She hated to even contemplate that, but she rarely felt like she had something to smile about, and to get something like this…. It almost felt like someone was making fun of her.

She knew it shouldn't. She wanted to take it at face value. She didn't want to read more into it. The writer surely didn't intend for her to think about how ugly and invisible she was when she didn't smile. Someone like Chloé would find a way to put a hidden meaning like that into a supposed compliment, though Juleka doubted she would deign to write something like this in the first place. Anonymity wasn't Chloé's style. _Subtlety_ wasn't really Chloé's style, either. Straight up insults were, and this wasn't that.

This was probably meant to make her smile.

Instead, she felt like crying, and she wasn't really sure why.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

That was Alix, and when Juleka looked up again, trying to blink back tears, she realized that everyone was either looking at her or digging through their books to find similar notes. Juleka folded her note and shoved it into her pocket, away from prying eyes. "Nothing. I'm fine."

No one believed that. They didn't need to see Rose's skeptical face to doubt her. Juleka stood. "I just need a drink," she said as she eased by Rose, and she kept her head down and fled. She heard Rose get up to follow her, but she didn't look back.

She ended up taking a long drink at the fountain, savouring the cool water, and finally looked up to see Adrien standing behind her instead of Rose. She pretended she didn't know why he was there and simply stepped aside, but he didn't take her place. Instead, he repeated a variation of Alix's question, and she repeated her lie.

And then he asked, "Is it because of the note?" She didn't answer, but he didn't seem to need one. "It's…it's just a compliment, you know."

"Maybe yours is," she heard herself murmur, "but mine feels like a judgement." That earned her a frown, so she forced herself to elaborate. "It says to smile more."

"Are you sure it's not just saying you have a pretty smile? Your whole face lights up, Juleka. It's amazing. You don't smile lightly, so when you do…." He shrugged, looking at a loss for words. "It's like a rare treasure. Not everyone gets to see it, but those who do remember it and will smile themselves, so they're richer for it."

She could hear the sincerity in his voice and wasn't sure she would have believed it coming from anyone else, except perhaps Rose. But his conviction convinced her of something, too. "You wrote the notes. One for everyone?" She had no idea how he could have gotten them into everyone's books, but she wasn't really surprised that Adrien apparently had a secret skill.

He smiled sheepishly. "I thought it was a good idea. I thought it would cheer people up. Everyone always seems to be on edge these days or doubting themselves for one reason or another, so I thought, maybe, this would brighten people's day. I…I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I'm sorry, Juleka."

"You don't need to apologize." That only made him try to apologize again, so she overrode him, adding, "I guess I'm just not used to getting compliments." She felt like crying for an entirely different reason now. She was touched by Adrien's words; he was so sweet, thinking of them all like that, and it made her feel even more embarrassed about her overreaction than she already did. "It was a nice idea."

"Do you think I should just confess, then?"

Juleka shook her head. "Rose believed it, and I think more people are like her than me. I just…. I don't know. I find it hard to take compliments from strangers, I guess. I never know whether or not to believe them." She could still feel the sting of tears in her eyes, so she fished a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes be rid of them.

The smile Adrien offered her was gentle rather than condescending, but a quick quirk of the lips turned it into something more playful. "Then maybe next time, I should sign them from Chat Noir."

Juleka couldn't help it. She snorted.

Adrien's smile grew. "You know it's one of Alya's theories, right? Nino told me. I don't know how she thinks I would find the time to be Chat Noir, but…."

This time, Juleka could return Adrien's smile, albeit with a small one of her own. "You wouldn't want to misrepresent one of Paris's heroes."

"Oh, he wouldn't mind," Adrien said. "Not for something like this. Especially not when it's the truth."

"Thanks, Adrien." She meant it, and she knew he could tell. "That means a lot." It felt strange to admit it, to acknowledge the compliment—all his compliments—so casually. "You know, you're as much a hero as Chat Noir in your own right."

He looked genuinely surprised. "Really?"

"You're kind," she whispered, "and you're not afraid to spread that kindness, even though you know how broken this world can be. That makes you a sort of everyday hero, at least to me."

His smile returned, and she muttered about needing to get back to class, but her hand kept drifting to her pocket for the rest of the day, feeling the physical reminder of Adrien's note. When she got home, it was going to get a place of honour with their class photo, and she was going to smile every time she thought about it.

 _You have a beautiful smile. The world is brighter when you wear it._

And maybe, just maybe, the world would feel a little brighter for her, too.


End file.
